The Mughal Empire
John F. Richards (Author)
The Mughal empire was one of the largest centralized states known in pre-modern world history. It was founded in the early 1500s and by the end of the following century the Mughal emperor ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent with a population of between 100 and 150 millions. As well as military success, the Mughal emperors displayed immense wealth and the ceremonies, etiquette, music, poetry, and exquisitely executed paintings and objects of the imperial court fused together to create a distinctive aristocratic high culture. In this volume, Professor John Richards traces the history of this magnificent empire from its creation in 1526 to its breakup in 1720. He stresses the dynamic quality of Mughal territorial expansion, their institutional innovation in land revenue, coinage and military organization, ideological change, and the relationship between the emperors and Islam. Professor Richards also analyzes institutions particular to the Mughal empire, such as the jagir system, and explores Mughal India's links with the early modern world. The Mughal Empire offers a concise and up-to-date synthesis of this spectacular period in the history of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. It will be widely read by students and specialists of South Asian history and civilization and will be of interest to travellers wishing to know more about the background to the great Mughal monuments
History
xvi, 320 pages : maps ; 24 cm.
9780521251198, 9780521566032, 0521251192, 0521566037
25246187
Introduction
Conquest and stability
The new empire
Autocratic centralists
Land revenue and rural society
Jahangir 1605-1627
Shah Jahan 1628-1658
The war of succession
Imperial expansion under Aurangzeb 1658-1689
The economy, societal change, and international trade
Maratha insurgency and Mughal conquest in the Deccan
The Deccan years
Imperial decline and collapse, 1707-1720
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliographic essay